Progress

Part of Transform Hawaii Government’s mission is to hold the state accountable for implementing the Transformation Plan. One way for us to do this is to publicly share the progress being made and the challenges being faced. This page provides a snapshot of the current status of various pieces of the transformation.

Community Support

In January 2016, a survey was conducted to gauge community sentiment toward the state’s plan to transform. The poll was conducted by OmniTrak Group, Inc. among a random sample of 700 adult residents statewide.

Awareness of Transformation Program

With the Transformation Program in the initial stages of implementation and has had little media coverage in the last two years, it is not surprising that only 15 percent of respondents are aware of it.

Support for Transformation

When survey respondents were informed about the benefits of Transformation Program and the anticipated cost of $1 billion over 12 years, approximately 67 percent of respondents indicated that they would support the effort.

Top Reasons for Supporting the Transformation

Government will improve

Hawaii is out of date/needs to modernize

It will create a government that is more efficient, save time, and streamline

This will benefit the people/state

It is important/long overdue

Cost savings

Top Reasons for Opposing the Transformation

Too costly for government

Waste of money

Government projects don’t work

Other issues are more important

Questionable where the funding will actually go/come from

Project Progress

With the change in administrations two years ago, it has taken some time for Governor Ige to layout how the Transformation would continue. Here is a recent video with his and other key legislators positions.

In 2016, the Office of Enterprise Technology Services was created to combine the Office of Information Management and Technology and the Information and Communication Services Division under the state Chief Information Officer. Each year the CIO and other key technology councils and committees are required to submit a progress report to the legislature. Below are reports submitted in December 2016 and January 2017.

The State of Hawaii has made progress in key projects that comes as a benefit to taxpaying residents.

Problem

Project

Benefitsto You

The state used multiple systems, halting the ability
to communicate seamlessly and integrate business processes

Implement Microsoft
Office 365

Cost savings to you, the taxpayer – less time spent troubleshooting and on ad hoc fixes

Improved state security

The state used paper for most business processes, including signing contracts

Go paperless! Implement eSignature

Results in expedited contracts for state vendors, potentially increasing services available to you

The old data center that houses sensitive state data was located in a hurricane flood zone.

Data center colocation at
UH Manoa

Increased physical security of data

Cost savings to the taxpayer – didn’t build an entirely new center.

Challenges

While the State of Hawaii’s business and information technology transformation is making progress, the coalition has identified three areas in which state government and the Office of Enterprise Technology Services are falling short:

Staffing of Key Positions

Due to the budget approved by the legislature and salary restrictions, numerous key positions were either reduced or under-funded. Some administrative positions, while budgeted, remain vacant at the beginning of 2017. Implementation of the myriad programs associated with the state transformation effort has understandably consumed much of ETS’s time and effort. However, given the state’s ongoing challenges of funding and staff reductions, filling allocated positions requires a greater sense of urgency as every open position, both technical and administrative, is crucial to the success of future projects.

Publishing Public Dashboard

A publicly accessible dashboard that provides the latest status of specific transformation projects will enable increased transparency and accountability. The goal to publish an online dashboard in 2013 was delayed, affecting the public’s ability to track progress made by ETS and others within the state.

I am a longtime advocate of open data. Greater access to public information creates a more transparent, accessible, measurable, and accountable government, while also creating opportunities for innovation that often serves the public good.

About

Transform Hawaii Government is a grassroots organization formed to support the State of Hawaii’s effort to transform government through improved business practices and continued investments in technology to benefit all people of Hawaii.